


money on me

by applejwoos (kenmarcadeblues)



Category: CIX (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Bae Jinyoung & Kim Yonghee Are Best Friends, Competition, Confessions, Fluff, Humor, Kim Yonghee in a Crop Top, M/M, Math Major Kim Yonghee, One Shot, baejin gets the benedict cumberbatch treatment (kinda)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:09:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23399734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kenmarcadeblues/pseuds/applejwoos
Summary: What’s the result of adding up a date auction, a cute mathematician, a competitive best friend, and a pining second-year?One expensive date.(or: “yonghee’s lil math major league surprisingly does date auctions as a fundraiser for an event and hyunsuk shoots his shot bc he’s liked yonghee for the longest time” — the au)
Relationships: Bae Jinyoung & Kim Yonghee, Kim Yonghee/Yoon Hyunsuk, Lee Byounggon | BX & Yoon Hyunsuk
Comments: 11
Kudos: 60





	money on me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [idals0](https://archiveofourown.org/users/idals0/gifts).



> wrote this on a doc titled “yongsuk for beia” since that’s exactly what it is! she gave me such a cute lil prompt, how could i refuse? there are so many great cix ships aaaaa ♡

_ Here we go... _

Yonghee inhales slowly, then steps forward into the spotlight. With his teammates now behind him, he smiles out at the crowd. Between his best friend’s obnoxious hooting and everyone else’s curious gazes, he barely resists wrapping his arms around his stomach. Was it always so cold in the amphitheater? 

It's a fundraising night for Yonghee’s student math league, and this semester they’ve made it to quarterfinals so far, which means practice buzzers, new tires for the team van, and gas money. He has to sell the product, which in this case is...himself. Hence the cropped sweater and peace sign pressing into his cheek. 

_ Think flowery thoughts.  _

The Right (Angle) People is the brainchild of Lee Taemin, the graduate student who oversees the league. (He’s something akin to a father figure—if a father could sell his kids in good conscience.) The bake sale had failed because half the team couldn’t bake while the other half weren’t bringing their sales game enough, but a date auction turned out to be a surprisingly viable method. Taemin always tells young mathematicians how cute they are, and according to last year’s budget reports, the general student body was inclined to agree. 

The thing is, Yonghee isn’t sure anyone finds him cute except Jinyoung. 

Beside Yonghee, Heejin uses her free hand to make flourishing motions. “Next up, allow me to introduce Kim Yonghee. A third year who loves conic functions but promises not to run  _ circles  _ around you!” That pun wasn’t even on his info card; she’s enjoying this too much. Maybe if Yonghee had won a twelve-way rock-paper-scissors match for the role of auctioneer, he’d be carefree like this, too. “His charming point is his eye mole and his ideal date is cooking together at home. What a down-to-earth guy! Anything you want to say for yourself, Yonghee?”

“Um…” Yonghee breathes as he fumbles with the mic now in his hands. “I’m kind of...not a good chef. I eat a lot of cereal out of convenience. But I think it’d be fun to try out something different with one of you.”

“15,000₩ for a chance to go ‘Kitchen Nightmares Gordon Ramsey’ on this  _ snack _ , let’s go!”

  
  


**+**

  
  


Jinyoung will do anything for his best friend. Sometimes it’s pushing Yonghee to try-out for the math league that he was too shy to join last year. Other times it’s using all remaining brain-cells to halfway follow ramblings about number theory and various other topics an applied mathematics major gets excited about. Right now, it’s keeping a promise: to hike up Yonghee’s selling point as much as possible. 

The amphitheater is quiet for a few beats before a high-pitched voice behind him calls out, “18,000!”

“20,000!” Jinyoung responds coolly. 

Two seats away someone shifts in their seat, drawing Jinyoung’s eyes to a golden mop of hair and an impish grin directed at the stage. Yonghee is shooting off hearts just how Jinyoung taught him. “23,000!”

“26,000,” Jinyoung counters.

“30,000!” To his surprise this is a different voice than the first, coming from somewhere leftward. He takes a moment to smile at Yonghee while sending a mental  _ I told you so, I know you’re cute and so does everyone else. _

**+**

After the auctioneer, cautiously optimistic as she scans the gathering, calls out, “Do I hear 40,000₩?”, the bidders seated farther from the stage fall silent. In the front row—physically  _ and _ figuratively—Byounggon crosses his legs to watch Hyunsuk and a guy who resembles an anime protagonist glare past him in order to meet eyes. As far as he can tell, neither one has thoughts of backing down.

**+**

“55,000!” Hyunsuk yells, almost as if in physical pain. As if he shares a psionic connection with his wallet, which is being brutally gutted. This is not how getting a date with the cute math tutor was supposed to go! It should’ve been easy, letting money talk in lieu of  _ Hey, uh, I know we don’t talk much and you probably don’t give a damn about me but I can’t help the massive crush I have on you, like it really will not go the fuck away, wanna get lunch maybe? _

But the blue haired guy two seats down is a problem.  _ The _ problem. His tiny face fills up with a smirk. (He knows what he is—just not to what extent.) “65,000.” 

Hyunsuk forces himself to scoff instead of recoiling. “You do  _ not _ have that type of cash on you,” he huffs as he crosses his arms. 

“Oh, don’t I?” Bluehair Tinyface asks, only to lean over a flustered Byounggon and add, “Kid, I think you’re projecting.”

“You—” He and Bluehair Tinyface must share the same brainwave because before he knows it, they’re both rising from their seats. 

When Hyunsuk shoots his hand forward to cause trouble on purpose, though, Byounggon makes himself a human barricade. Gasps come from all around as the trio’s scuffling draws more widespread attention. “Hey!” Byounggon pushes the two slightly taller guys in opposite directions. “Come on, not in front of the guy that one of you is gonna spend time with…”

“His name is Kim Yonghee,” Hyunsuk says for no good reason. (Maybe he just likes saying Yonghee’s name out loud, likes the very syllables and the way they’re associated with patience and bright smiles and saccharine bubbles of laughter. Maybe he’s an idiot. Maybe he’s about to go broke.)

“Yes,” Listerine Littlehead agrees curtly, “and he’s my best friend.”

Suddenly the speakers overhead crackle to life again. “65,000₩ going once!” states the auctioneer, though her voice raises at the end as if this is partly a question. (Her expression certainly supports that theory.) Yonghee is rocking from heels to toes and staring down, doe-eyed, at Hyunsuk, Byounggon, and his blue-haired best friend.

Somehow Byounggon responds first. “Oh?”

“Oh...” Hyunsuk sounds like a pathetic echo. He gazes up at Yonghee—cute even when concerned, lovely in mundane clothes but downright delicious in this striped crop-sweater which shows off a tiny waist,  _ Yonghee _ —and then drags his eyes back to Blueberry Beanface. 

“ _ Ay _ , don’t look at me like that, it’s not”—here, Yonghee’s  _ bestie _ shakes his head with feeling—“I’m not calling dibs! I’m not secretly into him!”

“60,000₩ going twice!” warns the auctioneer. 

All in one breath, Byounggon grabs Blueberry Beanface by the shoulders and words tumble out like a string of magician handkerchiefs. “Then, dude,  _ please  _ retract your bid, the kid’s just trying to shoot his shot after a long time, since he’s shy—”

“Hyung, oh my god, be  _ quiet! _ ” Hyunsuk whisper-yells, though he’s so mortified that he’d love a good scream. “Don’t!”

“Why the hell not? It’s the only way not to go completely broke  _ and _ get the guy!” Byounggon argues kindly. 

“So—okay,” Icy Perfectproportions starts gathering his thoughts and looks Hyunsuk straight in the face, “you—are you pining after Yonghee?” He (Hyunsuk suddenly remembers someone calling this guy  _ Bae-Jin? _ ) sounds genuinely curious. 

Hyunsuk chances a nod but doesn’t face him. 

“Fuck. Okay, um…” Baejin pauses to run a hand through his bright hair. At the same time that the auctioneer says the first syllable of ‘sold’, he points at Hyunsuk and screams, “Wait! I retract my last bid, as long as this guy is truly willing to pay 55,000 in cash!”

“W-Well, then.” The auctioneer (come to think of it, she has a Jin in her name, too, right?) gulps down her confusion, then gestures down at Hyunsuk with a smile. “Previous bidder, do you accept this condition?”

It feels like sunshine is bursting out of Hyunsuk’s chest. “Yes! Absolutely, yes!” 

The satisfied student relaxes her shoulders. “Cooking date with Kim Yonghee sold for 55,000₩!” she calls triumphantly. Behind her on the stage, the other math league members chat amongst themselves and send someone to go write the closing bid next to Yonghee’s name in the data table on the whiteboard. 

Byounggon smartly takes the seat that was formerly Hyunsuk’s, forcing the two bidding war opponents to settle beside each other. 

“Thank you so much, Baejin! Seriously!” It’s funny how in a few short minutes, Hyunsuk has gone from wanting to hit this kind-of-stranger, to wanting to hug him. For one evening, Kim Yonghee will be with him for something other than homework help and nothing else will matter. 

Money can’t buy happiness, but it can get you opportunities, which  _ could  _ lead to happiness.

He lowers his head the slightest bit out of gratitude and earns a chuckle. “You’re welcome. But it’s  _ Bae Jinyoung _ to you, since we’re not familiar,” Jinyoung points out. “Yet.”

Hearing Jinyoung state his  _ actual name _ is so satisfying that Hyunsuk almost ignores that last phrase. “Yet?” he repeats brainlessly. 

Jinyoung smiles slowly. “We’ll be seeing each other a lot, probably...if Yonghee likes you back.”

Hyunsuk wrings his hands together. Yonghee has rejoined the lineup of math league members, who are showering him with attention even as someone new is called upon to step forward for auction. Hyunsuk admires his pretty side profile and the animated way he speaks, and when Yonghee meets his eyes, he doesn’t look away. Not this time. 

And Yonghee smiles. 

Hyunsuk is scared to blink. “Will he?” he breathes. 

Jinyoung shrugs and says nothing. 

  
  


**=**

  
  


When Hyunsuk hands Taemin five 10,000₩ bills plus a 500₩ coin the smug expression on the senior’s face is something out of a cartoon. “Thank you for your generous donation. Treat my little Yongie nicely, or else.”

Yonghee wants to blush out of existence. “Okay,  _ dad _ ,” he sputters, then pulls Hyunsuk away before he can form any sort of response. There was a line behind them anyway, no need to linger in the cramped backstage area for more time than required. 

Once they’re out in the bright, open hallway, Yonghee releases Hyunsuk’s wrist. The younger boy watches the action with an unreadable expression, unusually subdued. “Didn’t know you had it in you, Yoon Hyunsuk,” Yonghee says. 

“What do you mean, hyung?” Here he is: the number-challenged kid that Yonghee had spent over 1000 hours tutoring last semester, wearing this confused expression—it has been a while since Yonghee has seen it. Same as it always was, except Hyunsuk’s cheekbones are more prominent now. If he keeps going on like this, losing baby-fat and becoming more and more statuesque, he’s going to get roped into an arts student’s project (and Yonghee wouldn’t fault them for that). 

“You put a lot of money on me.”

“Yeah…” Hyunsuk hums and leans against the wall. “I’ll be on an instant noodle diet for a few weeks, no biggie.”

Yonghee frowns and makes a mental note to cook one nutritious dish during their...evening together _. _ “And you tried to  _ fight _ my best friend?”

Hyunsuk’s eyes wobble before he exclaims, “Look, I swear I’m not violent!” The way his hands are fluttering aimlessly show how worked up he is. “And if I’d known who exactly that hyung was…”

“I know. It’s alright, really,” Yonghee soothes, stepping closer to the younger man. “Jinyoung probably deserved it. Annoying people is one of his talents.” 

Like a good dongsaeng, Hyunsuk neither confirms nor denies that. Instead, he opts for clearing his throat and changing the subject. “I like your sweater.”

Two sensations hit Yonghee at once: heat crawling up his neck and air conditioned chill spreading over his belly. “Ah...thank you. It was Jinyoung’s idea.”

“Mm. Guess I owe him more than I thought,” Hyunsuk says. There’s a hint of mirth in his voice—but what for, exactly, Yonghee can’t be sure. 

“Huh?”

Hyunsuk laughs and shoves Yonghee’s arm playfully. “Hyung! Don’t be like that!”

“No, I—so, like, you…” As Yonghee trails off while searching for a thought to cling onto, Hyunsuk seems to be simultaneously eager to hear it and...afraid? Why is he pressing into the wall, hoping to find a farther place, when all Yonghee can summon is: “You like my sweater  _ that _ much?”

“Please,” Hyunsuk groans while shaking his head, “do I have to say it?” 

“Say what?”

The pitiful second year looks up at the ceiling and exhales slowly. “Okay. Okay.” Then he squeezes his eyes shut. “Kim Yonghee-hyung, your body is really pretty.” A breath. “Honestly, everything about you is pretty, even the way your brain works. Life looks better with you in it.” 

It’s quiet everywhere except Yonghee. “Is this a confession?” His heartbeat is dancing all the way down to his toes. “Do you  _ like _ me?”

Hyunsuk nods, eyes still closed. 

There once was a first year who thought he was hopeless with calculus. But he was determined and eager to improve, which made him easy to teach. His math tutor noticed how he laughed often, lived for even the lamest of jokes, and smiled just for the sake of smiling itself. Despite being told it was unnecessary, he often brought snacks for his tutor, argument being ‘I should at least make sure you’re energized during a session.’ And those sessions, as weeks and months passed, ceased being obligations in the tutor’s mind.

There was a second year who never failed to happily greet his former tutor whenever they met serendipitously on campus—even if it was just a meeting of gazes, from opposite ends of a courtyard.

_ There is this guy in front of you and you don’t recognize him except you do, you’ve never seen him more clearly, and you’re his former tutor and he likes you so much that he can’t look at you, my god, give him an answer! _

Yonghee doesn’t trust himself with words. They’re such uncertain things, especially out of his own mouth. 

He hooks his arms around Hyunsuk’s neck and, even though the younger startles with a little  _ Eh?! _ he lowers his head just enough…

Jumping to make up the remaining centimeters, Yonghee leans forward and kisses Hyunsuk’s forehead. Then he starts running. 

“Ah! What was that?” Hyunsuk’s astonishment reverberates and gives chase down the corridor. 

“I’ll text you, Hyunsuk-ah!”

It’s what Yonghee should’ve done a long time ago. 

**Author's Note:**

> come yell with me about watering the cix tag lmao
> 
> twt @geecob  
> tumblr @applejwoos


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